This invention relates generally to rescue breathing devices and more particularly to devices to be used to provide artificial respiration to victims of suffocation or asphyxiation.
Several problems have characterized mouth-to-mouth resuscitation methods in the past. One problem is the physical contact between the victim of asphyxiation or suffocation and the person attempting to administer mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. For squeamish rescuers, the lip contact between the rescuer and the victim, particularly in cases where the victim has vomited or has food in his mouth, would prove to be a deterrent to the administration of artificial respiration. Unfortunately, it is known that complete oral contact or a good seal between the rescuer's mouth and the victim's mouth is necessary to provide an effective resuscitation of a victim to avoid fatal results.
In addition to the problem of oral contact, other problems exist which may frustrate the efforts of the rescuer in resuscitating the suffocating victim. Related problems are in the common tendency of the victim either to swallow his tongue or to undergo a muscle contraction in the nasal pharynx thereby partially or completely occluding the trachea. These related problems are particularly characteristic of victims of electrocution or drowning.
Another related problem which has been found to occur in efforts to provide a victim of suffocation or asphyxiation with artificial respiration has been the fact that the air delivered to the victim by the rescuer is rich in carbon dioxide and relatively poor in oxygen because the air has been through one breathing cycle of the rescuer. Accordingly, the rescuer's first use of the air before delivery to the rescue victim has caused a decrease in the quality of air delivered to the rescue victim because it has been respirated once by the rescuer.